Three ravenous car thieves were caught red-handed by police after making a stop at a McDonald’s drive-thru.
Rory Fitzgerald, 24, Harry Beresford, 21, and Zachary Shellis, 25, had ordered burgers and fries after they ‘got the midnight munchies’.
But police were hot on their heels.
The men were arrested for stealing 20 luxury cars, worth £500,000, as they waited outside the Bristol Road branch of McDonald’s in Birmingham.
Police had been hunting for the notorious trio after they were spotted trying to break into garages just before midnight on November 17, 2020.
They then drove off empty-handed in a black Peugeot with a distinctive ‘space saver’ wheel on the back.
The vehicle was picked up 30 minutes later and police followed it into a McDonald’s drive-thru – where all three were then arrested on suspicion of burglary.
Officers found balaclavas and gloves and, when searching the trio’s phones, discovered photos of them posing with and driving stolen cars.
One video showed Fitzgerald rummaging inside a woman’s handbag before making off with her flash BMW.
The trio also could be seen ransacking the woman’s house while Beresford filmed.
After stealing a 55-inch television, one man can be heard singing: ‘I don’t just take cars me, I take the big tele.’
Another video revealed one of the group holding stolen car keys while a voice can be heard saying: ‘What’s that, eight cars in one night, OK then’.
All three men admitted conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and conspiracy to burgle homes between June 28 and November 16, 2020.
At Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, Fitzgerald was jailed for eight years, Beresford was jailed for six years three months and Shellis was sentenced to five years five months behind bars.
Detective Constable Kevin Cockayne, from West Midlands Police, said: ‘After being arrested in the drive thru we initially charged them with three offences – but the full scale of their offending became clear when we analysed their phones.
‘They broke into homes for keys to high-performance cars like VW Golfs, Mercedes-Benz and BMWs.
‘No victims were confronted but they caused damage to homes, worry for victims and lots of inconvenience.’
Police recovered 12 of the stolen cars, including one of two Mercedes-Benz.
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